Welcome to your July Expats Reunite Newsletter.Everything is gearing up now for the Olympics in Beijing. Although we have only been here a few months the changes we have noticed have been dramatic. The infrastructure to enable visitors to attend the Games includes new highways, high speed metro systems and probably the most intensive tree planting in history. Forests have appeared almost as if over night, well not quite but the transformation is unbelievable.

For anyone visiting China for the Olympics please don't hesitate to contact me at info@expatsreunite.com if you want any advice on what to see, where to go etc.

Expats Guide to new countries:This is a new feature we have been asked to include on ExpatsReunite. Moving to any new country can be a bit daunting but if there was a resource that you could access written by people who have already made the move then hopefully some of the stress/uncertainty can be removed. We have added a new forum for just this purpose. It needn't be too compromise just advice for anyone considering a move.

So please, all you expats share your tips, advice or suggestions in this new message board and help others considering a move.

Lost Family & Friends:As you know each month we feature extracts from messages left in the forum y members trying to find people they have lost contact with. Through ExpatsReunite we have had some remarkable success stories reuniting people who have lost contact with each other sometimes for decades, half a century even.

The most recent requests are as follows:

One of our members is looking for information about Ormonde Corrington George, was Mayor of Victoria in 1978 serving in Ian Smiths government; David Frazer is looking to find Bernard Proctor/Procter who left the UK to emigrate to New Zealand in the 60s, Marion Carr is trying to find her old school friend Christine Elvin, finally Sandy is trying to contact ex colleagues from St Lawrence Military Boys & Girls High School in the 40s and 50s, in a place called Lovedale in Nilgries.

If you know any of these people don't forget to reply to the message on the forum. We have thousands of messages from members trying to trace someone they have lost contact with so don't forget to check them out, you never know, someone maybe looking for you to!

Members Benefits: One of the features we are still keen to develop further are the discounts we have negotiated for members with service providers. As we mentioned in our last newsletter if you do know of a company where you live that we could approach please contact me at info@expatsreunite.com.

ExpatsReunite Blogs: Unfortunately we had to remove this section from our site because the blogs were being spammed. For all those who took the time to create their blog, we apologise and hope to be able resurrect our Blogs section again in the not too distant future.

$1000 Competition:Introduce a new member to ExpatsReunite and you could win $1000. From now until the end of the year we will be running this competition. Each month we will announce a league table showing who is leading in the competition to win the $1000 prize. All you need to do is go to our "invite a friend" section on the menu and fill in the details of your friend. If they join you will be entered into the competition. The member who has introduced the most new members will win the $1000, so start 2009 on a high. The more members we get the better the discounts we can negotiate for you in our "Benefits Section"

Joke Competition:Well this month's winner has to be Hawkeye with his joke, "Divorce and the Mistress" one of the funniest jokes I have heard in a while. So Hawkeye, wicked sense of humour! Send me your 6 numbers between 1 & 49 and we will enter you into the UK Lottery. Don't forget to add your joke, each month we select a winner who in our opinion has entered the best joke and the prize is a chance to win millions on the UK lottery. Currently we have 29 pages of jokes, some are rib ticklers and most will put a smile on your face. Remember we all smile the same language and it's a great stress reliever.

This months Riddle:It doesn't hurt to take a hard look at yourself from time to time. This little test should help you get started.

During a visit to a mental asylum, a visitor asked the Director what the criteria is that defines if a patient should be institutionalized.

"Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub. Then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup, and a bucket to the patient and ask the patient to empty the bathtub."

Okay, here's your test: 1. Would you use the spoon?2. Would you use the teacup?3. Would you use the bucket?

"Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would choose the bucket, as it is larger than the spoon."What was the director's response? Click here for answer.

Quote for the month: "My Father had a profound influence on me, he was a lunatic". Spike Milligan, British Humorist, 1918-2002